Poll: All Countries Favor Equal Rights For Women

International Poll Finds Large Majorities in All
Countries Favor Equal Rights for
Women

Widespread Support for Government and
UN Action to Prevent Discrimination

According to
a new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of 16 nations from around
the world there is a widespread consensus that it is
important for "women to have full equality of rights" and
most say it is very important. This is true in Muslim
countries as well as Western countries.

In nearly all
countries most people perceive that in their lifetime women
have gained greater equality. Nonetheless, large majorities
would like their government and the United Nations to take
an active role in preventing discrimination.

The poll is
being released in advance of International Woman's Day
(March 8), a date recognized by the United Nations and
observed around the world. This year also marks the 60th
anniversary of the UN General Assembly's adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose second article
declares that all are entitled to the same rights and
freedoms, regardless of sex as well as race, language,
religion, or other status.

The poll of 14,896 respondents
was conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a collaborative
research project involving research centers from around the
world and managed by the Program on International Policy
Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. Interviews
were conducted in 16 nations including most of the largest
countries: Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, France, Great Britain,
India, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, the Palestinian
territories, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine, and the
US. The nations included represent 58 percent of the world
population.

Importance of Equality for Women

An overwhelming majority of people around the
world say that it is important for "women to have full
equality of rights compared to men." Large majorities in all
nations polled take this position ranging from 60 percent in
India to 98 percent in Mexico and Britain. On average across
the 16 nations 86 percent say women's equality is important,
with 59 percent saying it is very important.

Attitudes
vary about whether such equality is very important or
somewhat important. In seven countries large majorities say
it is very important--Indonesia (71%), France (75%), China
(76%), US (77%), Turkey (80%), Britain (89%), and Mexico
(89%). Smaller percentages say it is very important in Egypt
(31%), Russia (35%), India (41%), South Korea (43%), Ukraine
(44%), and Iran (44%).

Support for equal rights is also
robust in all Muslim counties. Large majorities say it is
important in Iran (78%), Azerbaijan (85%), Egypt (90%),
Indonesia (91%), Turkey (91%), and the Palestinian
territories (93%).

Men and women differ strikingly little
on this question. Across all countries 84 percent of men as
well as 88 percent of women say equality is important.
However a larger percentage of women say that equality is
very important (women 64%, men 54%). This pattern--women
slightly more likely to say that equality is important, but
substantially more likely to say it is very
important--appears in nearly every country.

"The idea
that women should have equal rights is fairly new in the
context of human history." said Steven Kull, director of
WorldPublicOpinion.org. "It is quite extraordinary that
there is now such a global consensus across cultures not
only that women should have equal rights but also that it is
the responsibility of the government to prevent
discrimination."

Perceived Changes in Women's
Rights

Very large majorities in nearly all
nations polled perceive that over the course of their own
lifetime women have gained more equality of rights as
compared to men. On average 71 percent perceive that women
have gained greater equality of rights with 29 percent
saying that they have gained much more equality and 42
percent saying say they have a little more equality.

The
two exceptions are the Palestinian territories and Nigeria.
Among Palestinians a slight majority (51%) says that women's
rights have become less equal, while 41 percent say they
have grown more equal. Nigeria is divided with 46 percent
perceiving greater equality and 46 percent perceiving less
equality.

The countries of the former Soviet Union also
have relatively large numbers saying that there has been no
real change or that women now have less equality, including
29 percent of Russians, 28 percent of Ukrainians, and 28
percent of Azerbaijanis.

India is unique in that only 53
percent say that women have gained greater equality, but an
additional 14 percent volunteered the response that women
now have more rights than men.

There is also considerable
variation among countries in the numbers believing women
have gained "much more" equality. Majorities in Egypt (57%)
and Britain (52%) believe women have gained much more
equality. In contrast, only 9 percent of Nigerians and 11
percent of Palestinians have this perception.

Men and
women overall differ little on the question of whether women
have gained greater equality--72 percent of men and 69
percent of women agree that this has occurred.

Government Intervention

Despite this
widespread perception that women are gaining greater
equality, there is very strong support for the government
taking an active role to further women's rights. Very large
majorities in nearly all nations polled say that "the
government should make an effort to prevent discrimination
against women." Only small minorities endorse the view that
"the government should not be involved in this kind of
thing."

On average, 80 percent say the government should
try to prevent discrimination against women, while 15
percent say the government should not be involved in this
kind of thing.

Mexico has the largest majority (96%)
endorsing such intervention. India is the only country
without a large majority favoring government action (53%)
and the one with the largest minority saying the government
should not be involved (38%).

Respondents who said their
government should try to prevent discrimination were then
asked whether it was doing enough in this regard. On
average, 53 percent feel that the government should do more,
24 percent that the government is doing enough, and 15
percent that the government should not be involved.

However there is substantial variation between nations.
In 11 nations the most common view is that the government
should do more. Majorities in nine nations believe this:
Mexico (83%), South Korea (73%), China (70%), Indonesia
(69%), France (68%), Turkey (60%), Nigeria (61%),
Palestinian territories (56%), and Britain (52%).
Pluralities believe it in two countries: Ukraine (46%) and
Russia (39%).

In five countries the most common view is
that governments are either already doing enough to prevent
discrimination or that they should not get involved. More
than four out of five Egyptians (82%) say that their
government is either doing enough (59%) or that it should
not do anything (23%). Sixty-three percent of Indians say
that the government should not be involved (38%), is doing
enough (21%) or volunteer that the government is doing too
much (4%). A more modest majority of Americans (52%) also
think that government efforts are already sufficient (35%)
or should stop (17%). Pluralities are opposed to greater
intervention in Azerbaijan (30% doing enough, 15% should not
be involved), and Iran (doing enough 24%, should not be
involved 18%).

Overall women are only slightly more
likely than men to say that the government should make an
effort to prevent discrimination (83% to 78%). However, they
are substantially more likely to say that the government
should do more than it is to prevent discrimination against
women (57% to 48%).

The Role of the United
Nations

Very large majorities in nearly every
nation say that the United Nations should try to further
women's rights even when presented the argument that this
would conflict with national sovereignty. Respondents were
asked, "Do you think the UN should make efforts to further
the rights of women or do you think this is improper
interference in a country's internal affairs?"

In 14 out
of the 16 publics polled most favor UN efforts, including
large majorities in Mexico (88%), China (86%), South Korea
(78%), Indonesia (74%), France (74%), Turkey (70%) and Great
Britain (70%) as do substantial majorities in the Ukraine
(69%), Azerbaijan (66%), Nigeria (66%) and the United States
(59%). In three support is more modest: Iran (52%), Russia
(52%) and India (48% favor, 28% opposed and 24% uncertain).

However in Egypt most of those polled (70%) think the
United Nations should not get involved in efforts to improve
women's rights and among the Palestinians views are evenly
divided.

On average, 64 percent approve of UN efforts to
further the rights of women, while 28 percent say this would
be improper interference.

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